Description
The Christ Child, about the age of a toddler, holds onto his mother’s dress and offers her a bushel of pears, a symbol of his enduring love for humanity. At the left is Saint Joseph, Mary's husband and Christ's earthly father, with his hands joined in prayer. The figures are placed behind a parapet and before a curtain which has been drawn aside to reveal an extensive cityscape beyond.
The stiff poses of the figures, crinkled draperies and fine contours are hallmarks of the style practiced by Francesco and Bernardino Zaganelli, two brothers who jointly ran the most prolific painting workshop in the north Italian city of Ravenna at the turn of the 15th century. This painting is likely by one of their many pupils—among whom was Girolamo Marchesi (see Walters 37.423)—and typifies the type of object that they serially produced for the homes of Ravenna’s middle- and upper-class citizens. For other paintings by the workshop, see 37.581 and 37.739.
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